Mr. B’s Busy-Bea

More insight to Mr B’s Busy-Bea (Buzzz Off) in MS draft form:

‘The end of October is always a funny time. I suppose it’s the beginning of...’

‘… Autumn already.’ Hallie’s dad said, unknowingly finishing off the sentence Hallie’s mom was thinking.

‘I was just thinking exactly that.’ She said.

‘Great minds think alike.’ he replied, looking over Hallie’s mom’s shoulder and through their kitchen window. He noticed the soft swirling wind and small yellow leaves following the swirls like little ballet dancers swaying and falling around invisible wires. ‘Nature’s getting ready to go to bed for a few months.’ He said.

‘Good morning Mom and Dad.’ Hallie walked in through the kitchen door rather slowly with a sombre look on her face, her voice was dull and quiet and her words dragged out in a drool. Hallie’s parents could tell straight away that something worried her. She held Busy-Bea in her right hand, dangling down by her side and bumping softly against her knee.

‘Good morning Hallie.’ Her mom and dad said almost together, purposely using a jolly tone in their voices to try and lift Hallie’s spirits.

‘What’s up then?’ Hallie’s mom asked gently lifting up her chin.

‘Nothing really… well, it’s just that I have to write a story in Mr. B’s yellow and black diary, or an adventure that happens to me over the holiday and I can’t think of anything to write. I just keep looking at what Elin Heath wrote – Queen Cloud Bee, and I can’t do anything better than that!

‘It’s only Saturday darling,’ Hallie’s dad said, laughing lightly and smiling, ‘anything can happen yet.’

‘We’re going shopping today Hallie to buy our new Halloween outfits for the party tomorrow. That’ll cheer you up.’ Her mom added. The family spent a long time shopping, not only for Halloween outfits, but other stuff as well. They ate lunch in a café in town and their tea at home. Hallie took her new witch’s outfit up to her bedroom to think again about something to write in Mr. B’s yellow and black diary. She was still worried, she hadn’t been able to think of anything to write all day – and time was passing by.

‘Hmm, that does look good.’ Hallie thought looking excitedly at her reflection in the mirror when she tried on her new witches outfit her mom had bought for the Halloween party. She thought it might help to give her some ideas for a story to write in Mr. B’s diary, but it didn’t. She sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor, rested the cheeks of her face in her hands and put her elbows on her knees, it was something she always did to help her concentration. The toll of the day and long walks in the fresh air soon made her feel drowsy, she closed her eyes to rest them for a while and she drifted into a light snooze.

‘Zzzzzzz – Zzzzzzz – Zzzzzzz.’ The calming buzz coming from somewhere around her Halloween costume, gradually getting louder then quieter, made Hallie feel even more tired. ‘ZZZZZZZ!’ A sudden extremely loud buzz in Hallie’s left ear woke her with a start, making her jump to her feet and rub her ear hard at the same time.

‘Blimey, what’s happened?’ Hallie asked out loud to no-one in the room. She looked at her bed; it was that big she had to stretch her head all the way back just to see the edge of the duvet cover. She looked towards her window, it reminded her of the massive ones she’d seen in churches. The whole of her room suddenly looked massive. ‘If someone walks through that door,’ she thought, as she looked at the door to her right, ‘they will be like the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk.’

Hallie’s favourite toy dinosaur she kept by the door to fight off any nasty creatures that might want to come into her bedroom when she was asleep, was now real-life sized and frightened her. But that was nowhere near the fright she was about to get. Hallie slowly turned her head around. She could sense that someone, or something, was breathing quietly and coarsely behind her. She looked up at her dinosaur, half expecting him to come to life and rescue her. The dinosaur didn’t move, the skin on the back of Hallie’s neck began to tingle.

Hallie closed her eyes. She knew she had to face the breathing creature behind her, but thought that closing her eyes would help in some way. When her head turned fully around and Hallie opened her eyes to see what was breathing, she sprang backwards slamming her back against the duvet cover of her bed. She had to hold on to the duvet tightly as all the strength she had in her legs disappeared completely.

There, stood in front of her, was Busy-Bea. Not the one she’d held in her hand for most of the day, no, this was a giant one. Busy-Bea’s ochre coloured mouth opened wide into a smile or a grimace, Hallie couldn’t decide which. The dagger-like serrated and glaringly white teeth, pointing out through rose pink gums like two sets of steak knives about to sword-fight inside Busy-Bea’s mouth, moved slowly towards her.

Hallie thought her heart would surely burst through her ribcage when she saw the two gigantic, glistening black eyes looking menacingly at her, forcing her to shift her own eyes away from Busy-Bea’s nasty teeth. The eyes bulged that much from Busy-Bea’s face, Hallie thought they would pop out any second now and fall on the floor – how horrible would that be! Then Busy-Bea winked. Her soft red eyelid closed slowly across one shiny black eye and opened again. Hallie knew then they were going to be friends. ‘Jump on then.’ Busy-Bea said softly. She unfolded one of her wings which then formed itself into a staircase leading from the floor to her back. ‘Don’t just stand there,’ she said, ‘hop onto my back – let’s go, we’ve got work to do and an adventure to have.’

Hallie had forgotten, but then realised she was still wearing her witches outfit for the Halloween party due the next day. The safety helmet, Busy-Bea insisted she wore, knocked Hallie’s pointy black hat off her head leaving it to dangle down her back. Hallie sat into two saddle-like dents in Busy-Bea’s back and grabbed two thick hairs sticking out of her neck. They reminded Hallie of the handlebars on her bike. ‘Ready to go?’ Busy-Bea shouted, but before Hallie could reply, they were off.

‘Woo-hoo.’ Hallie shouted, as they zoomed through the window and out into the windy early evening air. A dark blanket started to spread over the sky bed. ‘Why has everything gone so big Busy-Bea?’

‘It hasn’t.’ Busy-Bea replied. Hallie realised then she had gone super-tiny and not the other way around.

Hallie was glad she wore the witches outfit. It was lined with a thick fluffy and warm fleece, just in case any of the next day’s party activities were planned for outside, her mother had thought. She didn’t want her daughter to catch any nasty viruses often spread by people sneezing and coughing, especially in cold weather.

Busy-Bea and Hallie sliced through the chilling air at a hundred miles an hour at least – that’s what Hallie thought anyway. They zipped around the night sky doing loop-d-loops, figure of eight tricks, spinning and swooping down close to the green grass of her own back garden before shooting up towards the moon, almost vertically. Hallie thought they’d gone so high one time, she could have reached out and touched the moon itself.

Hallie was thrilled and enjoying the special ride. Then, all of a sudden, Busy-Bea dived head-first towards the ground. She didn’t slow down, not one little bit. Hallie looked down. The ground grew bigger and bigger as it rushed towards her. ‘Stop Busy-Bea,’ she cried, ‘or we’re going to crash.’ Busy-Bea took no notice of her and carried on towards Hallie’s back garden at the same speed, if not a bit faster. Hallie’s heart pounded in her chest, she was certain they were going to die – and very soon.

When they reached a few centimetres from the ground, Hallie let go of Busy-Bea’s handlebars. The last thing she saw, before covering her eyes with her hands, was a thin layer of white frost on the blades of her garden grass. They were much too close now to prevent a crash. Hallie heard a great big bang and a soft whistle, followed by about ten seconds of a crackling noise. ‘You can open your eyes now Hallie.’ Busy-Bea said. ‘Someone has let off a firework outside.’ Hallie opened her eyes, she saw nothing but blackness until Busy-Bea switched on her own headlights.

They’d landed somewhere. ‘We’re in a cave,’ was the first thing to enter Hallie’s mind, but she didn’t know why.

‘Hallie, every bee colony has a hidden store of honey to help them survive through the cold winter months,’ Busy-Bea said, ‘and this is where our secret stock is kept. We have a long flight later on tonight so we need a lot of fuel – and honey is fuel to a bee.’

‘I like honey too.’ Hallie said.

‘Yes, but first we have to get to it without being…’ Busy-Bea lowered her head and looked all around suspiciously.

‘Without being what?’ Hallie asked.

‘Just be very careful.’ Hallie rolled her startled eyes from side to side and frowned. The concern in Busy-Bea’s voice had scared her.

‘Hallie, press the button on the left side of your safety helmet.’ Busy-Bea said. Hallie didn’t realise she still wore it, let alone there being buttons on it. The darkness in front of Hallie brightened, reminding her of driving at night time in the little grey car her mom had recently bought. Her safety helmet was now a set of headlights lighting up everywhere she turned her head.

Every surface around them was dark grey and looked like clay. The room they were in was shaped like a tube, curving around to their right and sloping downwards. Hallie imagined it to be like the inner-tube from a bike wheel spiraling downwards, or a massive hollow metal spring stuck in the ground of her garden. The walls of the room were potted with perfectly formed round holes as if they had been cut out with a drill. Finger-like plant roots covered in cobwebbed hairs pointed out in all directions. A waft of stale air, smelling like a mix of pongy eggs and rotting cheese, hit Hallie’s nostrils making her grimace and hold her nostrils shut. ‘We have to follow that smell.’ Busy-Bea said. ‘Stay alert Hallie.’ Slowly, hand in hand, the two friends bravely made their way into the darkness.

Drrrrrrrrr – drrrrrrrrr! The drilling noise, coming from somewhere in front of them, stopped for a short while, then started again drawing Busy-Bea’s attention. Hallie couldn’t hear anything. The noise was, Busy-Bea estimated, about the same distance away from them they had already travelled. It had taken them about fifteen minutes to walk a short distance further on and a little deeper under the ground. ‘This smell is getting more and more horrible.’ Hallie said to Busy-Bea, scrunching her mouth and nose up as though someone had let off a stink bomb on her top lip.

‘Just keep walking Hallie and keep your wits about you.’ Hallie’s shoulders stiffened. Busy-Bea had recently said two comments that alarmed her.

‘Why did you tell me to keep my w…’ Then, before she could finish her sentence, the drilling noise droned into Hallie’s ears. ‘What’s that noise Busy-Bea?’ She asked instead. Her stuttering voice full of concern.

‘I hope it’s not what I think.’ Busy-Bea’s low, almost whispering tone made Hallie shudder all over and her shoulders stiffen even more.

‘I feel safe with you Busy-Bea.’ She lied.

Drrrrrrrrrr-tap – drrrrrrrrrr-tap – drrrrrrrrrr-tap-currunch. Hallie shone her headlights straight ahead where she thought the drilling noises were. She was sure something was just around the bend in front of them, yet she could see nothing except the tunnel. Fear suddenly stopped her from walking, she grabbed Busy-Bea by the arm to stop her too. ‘Hallie, we have to move on and get to the honey before our time together runs out.’ The hard look and sharp stare Busy-Bea gave Hallie froze her heart. Busy-Bea didn’t think the drilling noise was anything very nice, but said nothing to Hallie not wanting her to worry unnecessarily.

‘I’m scared Busy-Bea.’ Hallie finally admitted.

‘So am I Hallie.’ Busy-Bea replied with a comment that didn’t help. Hallie huddled closer to her friend.

The two brave girls inched forward towards the frightening noise, ever increasing in volume and the horrible smell, ever increasing in stench. Busy-Bea stopped, stood still and pulled Hallie behind her against the tunnel wall. The surface of the wall against Hallie’s back reminded her of a big sponge she uses to scrub her back in the bath. It was hard and rough on the surface, but soft underneath. They stood still and silent, both headlights pointing towards the loud drilling noise, now only a very short distance away in front of them – just around the next bend of the tunnel.